NCJ Number
13454
Date Published
1969
Length
352 pages
Annotation
DEVELOPS A THEORY OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION PRACTICE FOCUSED ON ORGANIZATION STRATEGY AND THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL WORKER.
Abstract
ASSERTING THAT DELINQUENCY AND OTHER CRITICAL PROBLEMS OF OUR INNER CITIES MUST BE CONFRONTED CONSCIOUSLY AND SYSTEMATICALLY RATHER THAN INTUITIVELY, THE AUTHOR EXPLORES THE VARIETY OF APPROACHES AVAILABLE FOR BOTH THE PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORKER AND THE CONCERNED LAYMAN. THE KEY CONCEPTS OF SOCIAL CHANGE AND STABILITY, AND ELITE AND GRASS-ROOTS DECISION-MAKING PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR CLASSIFYING AND EXPLAINING THE BEHAVIOR OF ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED WITH A VARIETY OF URBAN ILLS, INCLUDING DELINQUENCY. THE DATA FOR THE STUDY WERE GATHERED IN THE COURSE OF FIELD VISITS TO A GREAT MANY ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS CONCERNED WITH THE COMMUNITY PROBLEM OF DELINQUENCY. FOLLOWING AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER FOCUSING ON THE BASIC PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS, ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT AND THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM, A DESCRIPTION IS PRESENTED OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMMUNITY WORKER ROLE IN RELATION TO PROBLEM SOLVING. CHAPTER THREE COMMENCES A SERIES OF CHAPTERS ON METHOD, DEALING FIRST AT A GENERAL LEVEL WITH THE INFLUENCE PROCESS UNDERLYING ALL COMMUNITY INTERVENTION EFFORTS. CHAPTERS FOUR AND FIVE DELINEATE SETS OF ORGANIZING TACTICS OR TECHNIQUES, WHILE CHAPTERS SIX THROUGH EIGHT DISCUSS VARIOUS FORMS AND TECHNIQUES OF INTERORGANIZING. CHAPTER NINE DEALS WITH INTERORGANIZING OR CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES AND PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE USE OF CLIENTS AS STAFF MEMBERS. THE DIFFICULTIES OF EVALUATION OF COMMUNITY ACTION EFFORTS ARE EXPLORED IN CHAPTER 10. THE CONCLUDING CHAPTER 11 RECOMMENDS POLICIES AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL FOR MODIFICATION ON THE DELINQUENCY PROBLEM IN THE URBAN COMMUNITY. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)